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Court Records

The Provincial Archives acquires court records by Order in Council; court records must be at least 25 years old before being considered for transfer.

The Provincial Archives has records from the following courts:

Supreme Court of the North West Territories en banc

Court of Appeal

Supreme Court of Saskatchewan en banc

Supreme Court of the North West Territories/Saskatchewan

Kings Bench

Selected records from the District Court

For some courts, the Archives has collected as complete a record as was available and eligible for transfer. For example, records of the Supreme Court/King’s Bench and the Court of Appeal have been acquired in their entirety primarily because of the importance of these courts to Saskatchewan's legal history -- both in terms of their activities and their influence. However, for the District Court, some of the more voluminous and detailed cases were only sampled. The Archives does not have records of the Police Magistrate Court, the Provincial Court or the Surrogate Court.

In most cases, docket books (index to court cases) are also open for consultation.

Over time, court records have been inconsistently preserved and many files have been lost prior to transfer to archival custody. The content of files tends to vary from one judicial district to another.

While many are unprocessed, which may result in delays, most court records housed at the Provincial Archives are open and available for research. However, researchers will need to visit the Archives to consult the records.